Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (this book - Book 4)
VIOLENCE WARNING: The two stories in the Savage Gang saga, and especially the second story, involve a gang practicing extreme violence toward everyone — women, the elderly, the protagonist, etc. The stories contain mature sexual content and violence as well. I am placing this warning on all chapters, including those without such violence, so you can choose whether to continue.
CHAPTER 56
A conflagration of light and fire enveloped Sapphire Angel, flinging her backward in a tangled cartwheel of limbs and hair. She slammed onto the surface of the bridge, landing on her back, and slid through the snow, skidding to a stop near the apex of the bridge.
The explosion would have ripped any normal person into mutilated chunks of flesh and bone, but she remained in one piece. But she wasn't an unharmed. A searing pain throbbed in her chest where the rocket had struck her, making the gangster's punches seem trivial. And her head injury had roared back with a vengeance, leaving her skull pulsating. At least she was conscious, unlike her last run-in with a rocket.
She groaned and lay still, most of her body covered in snow. The dazed heroine winced and opened her eyes, but saw only blurry splotches of light and dark dancing in front of her, the effect sending pangs of nausea through her stomach. A sharp ringing filled her ears, and beyond it she perceived only a dull echo.
This was a problem. The gang’s leader and the giant were nearby, and she couldn’t see or hear. On top of it all, she felt like a tractor trailer had flattened her. She tried to move her arms and legs, but they barely responded, twitching in the snow. This showdown kept going from bad to worse.
She took a deep breath, wincing at the pain stabbing her chest. Through a mix of panic and force of will, she got her elbows underneath her, raising herself a few inches and trying to make out her surroundings. The blurry vision was already improving, but she still could only discern vague shapes, like looking through a misty shower door.
Her hearing, at least, was returning faster. She made out Smash’s groaning a few feet away, and she discerned his blurry outline as he rose to his feet. By saving Lawlor, she had also saved the big gangster.
The dazed woman turned to her side, put her hands underneath her, and tried to push herself up. These brutes would be on her any moment now. Just the thought sent her heart racing. Somehow, someway, she needed to rally, or this would not end well for her, or for Megan Lawlor. For all the problems she had given the gang, they would want to do more than just defeat her. They would want to hurt her, and make an example of the famous superheroine.
As she reached her knees, she looked back and spotted another figure come up beside Smash. The leader. Two members of the most feared gang in the country stood a few feet away, and she was helpless.
"Holy shit," Smash asked in a hoarse voice, sounding far away. "How the fuck did that not rip her to shreds?"
"I don't know," the leader replied. "But let's not waste time. You hold her, while I crush her skull with this."
Before she could rise any further, Smash moved in front of her. From her knees, she lunged out to push him, but missed and toppling forward, arms out. He snagged her under the shoulders and yanked her to her feet. As she yelped in surprise, he swung her small form sideways, slamming her back against the railing of the bridge. She grunted, and he pushed her shoulders back, extending them over the top of the railing. He continued to push, forcing her head back, so her upper body dangled out over open air.
Sapphire Angel winced and tried to resist Smash's pressure, but she was too weak. After recovering from a head injury, taking down eight gangsters, and being blasted by a rocket, she was a shadow of her former self.
She looked up and noticed the other man next to him, rearing back with what might have been a baseball bat. No, not a baseball bat. Her vision had cleared enough for her to make out the rocket launcher, held above her, ready for a crushing blow.
She had come so close, down to almost the last man, and now they were going to smash in her skull, and she was too weak and dazed to resist. Her vision had improved, but too late. This looked like the end. Sadness filled her, at having failed the city.
The swing began.
Even with her sensory disorientation from the explosion, time slowed for Sapphire Angel, like it had when the leader fired the rocket. As the blow descended toward her, she bent her arms at the elbow, grasping Smash’s forearms as he pinned her back over the railing. She pulled him against her body. He hadn’t been expecting this, and fell into her — and into the path of the oncoming below.
A sickening thump filled the air, like someone smashing a pumpkin. Smash’s already-cracked mask split, and blood splattered in all directions. The pressure on Sapphire Angel's shoulders released, and Smash toppled to the surface of the bridge, sinking into the snow.
Through cloudy but improving vision, she saw the leader frozen in front of her with disbelief on his face, the weapon dangling from one hand. Her back against the railing, Sapphire Angel extended her arms, grabbed the railing with both hands, and thrust both legs out into the man's chest, summoning all her strength. Her feet slammed home. The man flew across the width of the bridge, dropping the launcher before smashing into the opposite railing. She tapped into an unknown reserve of endurance, knowing she was fighting for her life, and took two leaping steps to reach him, pummeling him with a flurry of blows to the head.
The man’s stunned look remained, traveling from the costumed woman as he tried to block her blows, to his fallen comrade with a cracked and bleeding skull. The blows rocked him, but a moment later it was as if someone had flicked a switch. His face twisted in fury.
She couldn't keep up her pace, and, exhausted as she was, her blows weren't affecting him as they should have. With a snarl, he swatted away a punch and jabbed his fist into the center of her face, snapping her head back. As her eyes blinked and her thoughts scattered, he came in with a kick, striking the side of her knee. Her leg buckled, and she toppled to the side, before he smashed her to the ground with another punch to the side of her head.
"You fucked up everything!" he screamed, driving a kick into her ribs as she put her hands under her body.
The kick flipped her over, rolling her through the snow. As she scrambled to get up, rising to her hands and knees, he was on her, kicking her again, this time under the chin. Her jaw snapped together, sending a shock wave through her brain, as the kick lifted her into the air.
Sapphire Angel landed on her back, arms and legs spread as if she were ready to make a snow angel. She looked up as the man stalked toward her, his face contorted with rage. She coughed and her eyes fluttered. The battered superheroine put her hands at her sides and raised her back, but a moment later collapsed with a whimper. She reached for another reserve of energy, but found nothing.
The leader leader towered over her, his eyes twinkling with glee, as she lay spread eagle below him, her slender arms and legs unmoving in the snow and her long eyelashes flickering. Her entire body and costume glistened with moisture from the storm. He bent down and grabbed a fistful of the front of her costume, over her breasts. He lifted her torso a few inches from the snow, causing her head to tilt back, exposing her delicate throat. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
"Here's where your story ends," he sneered.
He released her costume, and she flopped back into the snow. He bent down, reaching to his left. When he stood back up, he held the rocket launcher in his hands. His hands wrapped around it like a pole vaulter might hold a pole, and he lifted it high above her. He aimed the butt of the weapon down at her angelic face.
"No…" she murmured.
"Go ahead and beg, superheroine," he said, a grim smile on his face.
As she lay below him, on the verge of defeat, she thought of this city, which had become her own. She was its last hope. But here he was, above her, about to smash her skull with the same weapon that had injured or killed his gang mate.
He jabbed down, like he was going to spear a fish, with the weapon accelerating toward her skull.
It never reached its mark. Sapphire Angel threw her arms up, snagging the thick stock of the weapon in her hands and stopping it inches from her face. The man's eyes opened wide in disbelief at her feat of strength. His eyes locked with hers, but only for an instant. She flung her arms up and snapped her wrists, propelling the other end back at him, where it crashed into his mouth and nose, obliterating his mask.
The gang leader flipped back as a spray of blood surrounded his face. He hit the ground, flopping away.
Sapphire Angel let the launcher fall to the side before pushing herself up with a groan of determination. As she rose to her knees, the leader rose across from her, also on his knees. They stared at each other, with the superheroine breathing hard, and the leader dripping blood from his mouth and his nose, and missing several teeth. His face was barely recognizable as a face, but she recognized the dazed, confused look in his eyes, as she had experienced the same scrambling of the brain four days earlier. The launcher had struck the perfect blow, rocking him to his core.
The two combatants struggled to rise to their feet. Sapphire Angel was faster. She stood over him, and he looked up at her, anger flashing through his glassy eyes.
"I'm going to fuck —" he began, his speech slurred.
"Shut up already!" she exclaimed, slamming a furious punch into the middle of his broken nose.
He howled, and wobbled on his knees, but didn't fall. Her punches had lost too much of their force.
Before he could raise his arms, she lashed out with a quick succession of punches to each side of his face, anger fueling her. She repeated the blows, whipping his head in alternating directions, until the gangster's arms dropped to his side. He stayed on his knees, swaying back and forth, his gaze vacant. Sapphire Angel reared back, summoning the final bit of her strength, and swung up, catching him under his chin. The mighty blow lifted him from his knees, and his eyes went dark. She stepped back as he landed on his back in the snow, unconscious.
Sapphire Angel dropped to her knees, spent, and fell forward, supporting herself with her palms in front of her in the snow. Her shoulders heaved and she let out a whimper, feeling every bit of the pain coursing through her body. She heard a groan behind her and angled her head, scanning the bridge. If it was another gangster, she was done. But it was Megan Lawlor. The woman was awake, stirred by all the activity. Sapphire Angel winced and struggled to her feet, before staggering over to the newswoman.
Lawlor looked up at Sapphire Angel with wide eyes. The costumed woman could hear the wail of sirens in the distance, probably responding to the sound of the explosion from the grenade launcher. The exhausted superheroine crouched next to Lawlor, who looked up at her and spoke.
"I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes," Lawlor said, amazingly lucid for what she had endured. "I saw you get hit by a missile. And you survived."
"I did. Now let's find something to get you warm," Sapphire Angel replied.
The heroine moved to the fallen gang leader, who was only a few feet away. He wore a black shirt over his body armor. It wasn't much, but it was better than the woman’s current attire. Sapphire Angel peeled the shirt from the man, pain racking her body with every motion, and brought it to Lawlor.
"Here," she said, extending it before remembering the woman’s bound wrists. The amazing superheroine slid her fingers under the rope on each side and pulled, snapping the bonds. Already some of her strength was returning. Lawlor looked at her with even more wonder in her eyes as Sapphire Angel helped her slip into the oversized shirt.
The victorious superheroine looked up. The police were getting close. Out on the main road, maybe fifty yards away, she could see the red and blue lights of police cars strobing through the snow, and what appeared to be flashlights bobbing and heading in her direction. She looked back to Lawlor.
"The police will be here in just a moment," she said. "They can get you help faster than I can. Just remember one thing. Please remember to tell them I left two more gang members bound out there in the snow, and there are more in the lake. Can you remember that?"
The woman nodded, pulling her arms around herself. "I can," she said, her teeth chattering. "I don't know how I can ever thank you. You saved my life."
"Putting an end to this gang was thanks enough," Sapphire Angel said, before turning and disappearing into the falling snow.
Not far away from Italian Lake, the Savage Gang was in tatters. A handful of members hadn’t taken part in the fight at Italian Lake, but they knew their time was up. A scout near the tunnel entrance had heard the explosion and had gone to investigate. He'd gotten close enough to see the police rounding up several of his comrades. He'd come back and notified the remaining gang members, who panicked. To a man, they all hurried to gather their belongings before fleeing the hideout.
Sapphire Angel climbed back into the rear of Stanley's van. He looked at her as she collapsed to the floor, his jaw dropping, before he pulled a blanket from a shelf and handed it to her.
"You look like you just took a shower in your costume," he said.
She gave a slow nod, groaned, and said, "Let's get out of here."
Sapphire Angel took the blanket and wrapped it around her torso, before she and Stanley moved to the front seats. She didn't need the blanket for warmth, but it seemed like a normal thing to do. Stanley had left the engine running, so he threw the vehicle into gear, spinning the tires for a second before the van lurched off thorough the snow.
"So, how did it go? It was kind of hard for me to see everything out there. The snow really picked up."
Sapphire Angel turned to him, her mouth agape.
"You mean you missed all that?" she asked, her voice incredulous.
"Well, I know there was an explosion. That had me worried."
"That explosion was me getting hit by a rocket they shot from a launcher."
Stanley's head whipped around as he looked at the young woman sitting in the seat next to him. "A rocket?" he asked. "Again?"
"Yes, again." She reached her hand to her chest, where the rocket had struck her, and grazed her fingers against it "I don't think anything is broken."
"You need to stop making a habit of this," Stanley said.
"You think?" she asked, looking sideways at Stanley with a frown.
"How did the gang fare?" Stanley asked.
"They're done. Megan Lawlor should be safe in the hands of the police right now, and the gang members are all captured, or worse. Some may be at the bottom of the lake, but hopefully not, and another might be dead soon from a bashed-open head."
Stanley looked at her, and Sapphire Angel held up a hand. "No, not at my hand. He got taken down by friendly fire, so to speak."
"And you? How are you doing?"
"I'll be okay, although I’ve never had a fight like that. Maybe I wasn't completely recovered from that concussion. Or maybe those gangsters were just incredibly tough. But it's over now."
"So is that it?" Stanley asked. "Is that the end of the Savage Gang in Harrisburg?"
"I can't be absolutely sure," Sapphire Angel responded. "But I took down ten of them, including the guy who was their leader in town. If you add that to the ten from my two prior run-ins with them, that's twenty of them who are out of commission."
Stanley nodded. "That's got to be as many as they've ever sent into a city in a first wave. I think we may have seen the end of the Savage Gang here. Thanks to you."
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (this book - Book 4)
Wooooooohoooooooo! .......This isn’t over, is it? No, definitely not; we still have a whole other novel to get through. Lynch and Smash were just two of many, and even if, by chance, they’re apprehended alive rather than dead, I’d likely spend the rest of this novel and the entirety of the next one in fear that they’d escape from wherever they’re going to potentially be brought.
And Maximus Savage, Benjamin Drummond, Larry Oberkfell, Vick Dillard, Mike Mitchell, and Howard Vincent are still there, as are Majid Azari and the silver-eyed man for sure. It’s just something I’ve tended to do whenever I watch something like a movie or read something like a novel; I keep a mental checklist of who the bad guys are and then I check them off one by one as they’re killed. Or defeated. Or otherwise out of commission. But that’s beside the point.
I would’ve loved to have seen Lynch’s entire squad go down, but I’m perfectly fine with just him and Smash for the time being; progress is progress, after all! And the Gang hasn’t exactly been giving us the easiest of times.
Can’t wait to start wrapping things up with all the other people, like Sapphire’s allies and the remnants of the Savage Gang. Conner’s not going to be happy if he hears about all of this.....maybe the victory could come at the cost of their relationship? I still think Ethan would be a better fit for her.
I’ll be sure to keep it here! Let’s bring it on home!